The field of the present disclosure relates generally to vehicle seats and, more specifically, to vehicle seats designed to fold within a vehicle.
Modern motor vehicles include seat belt devices that facilitate restraining passengers within a passenger compartment of the vehicle. At least some known reclinable vehicle seats have a standalone seat belt system integrated therewith. The standalone seat belt system is integrated within a seat back of the vehicle seat rather than being attached to a separate structure in the passenger compartment. Integrated seat belt systems enable the vehicle seat to be moved within the passenger compartment of the vehicle such that a shoulder belt will still be capable of extending around the passenger after the seat is moved. However, integrating the seat belt system with the seat back increases the weight of the seat back, which generally requires a heavier torsion spring to be installed in a seat recline assembly of the vehicle seat to enable forward rotation of the seat back when a recliner lever on the vehicle seat is activated. The torsion spring facilitates actuating forward rotation of the seat back from a reclined position to an upright position, and also from the upright position to a folded flat position. However, the increased weight of the seat back and the increased rotational force induced by the heavier torsion spring can be a hazard if forward rotation of the seat back is unhindered.